AN. I forgot to add in this yesterday but in case anyone is also reading Alex's neighbour fic (if youre not then you should) I just wanted to put a disclaimer that we both got inspired by the same tweet and we've talked over the fact we're doing something similar but I believe apart from the whole neighbours think our stories are very different but knowing what this fandom is like I thought it best to put a disclaimer.

Olivia had barely slept last night out of anger at Elliot. She pictured his cocky face smiling at her from next door every time she tried to sleep and instead of spending the night crying like she had expected she had spent the night sipping on her wine wanting to go over and kick his ass out of there.

Her mood is no better as she gets ready, especially not as she realises she's putting more effort than was needed for work in case she sees him. It didn't get better as she noticed him out on his porch as she was about to leave and it especially didn't get better when he turned towards her in just his boxers and an open dressing gown to wave as soon as she walked out of her door.

"Morning Liv"

"Fuck off"

Elliot laughs and pretends to take a sip of his coffee. It's stone cold where he has been waiting outside to see her for so long but he wants to use the time to look at her. She looks good, even when she is angry, if he were honest especially when she's angry. The way she had glared at him had been the look she'd given him many times right before he'd bent her over and fucked the attitude right out of her. He can feel himself stirring just at the thought of going over there and doing that to her now, he'd do it right over the bonnet of her car if she wanted.

"Still good with mornings I see"

"Mornings I'm fine with. Its idiots like you that I don't like"

Elliot laughs but she's at her car door now and he knows he's running out of time.

"Maybe tomorrow i'll bring you a cup as well" he holds up his mug to show what he means. "It used to work"

"Please don't" she shoots back and gets into her door slamming the car door behind her.

He waves as she pulls out but she purposely keeps her eyes from looking in his direction at all. She can see him waving and she knows he'll have that shit eating grin on his face and she can't look at him because she worries she might back her car into him.

He laughs as she drives off without another word. He didn't know what he was trying to do but he wanted to make her crack. He wasn't sure if that would be her slapping him or kissing him but he needed her to crack because he hated the barrier she had up with him now.

Olivia walks into the precinct, starbucks in hand wondering if she could add something a bit stronger to it if all of her mornings were going to start off with her ex husband half naked on his porch.

Elliot's dig about not being good at mornings had been a real kick in the teeth. Why had he tried to wind her up when he knew she'd already be in a bad mood? He knows her too well to move in next door just to annoy her because he surely knows he will push her over the edge by the end of today.

As she exits the elevator and starts to walk herself down the hallways to her office she is accosted by Amanda waving a file in her hand.

"Cap, we just got a hit through on the vics credit card over at a bodega at hunts point. Fin and Velasco are heading over there now"

"Ok"

Amanda furrows her brows at the lack of reaction from her boss.

"Is everything ok cap?"

Of course she knew it wasn't. It hadn't even been twenty four hours since she had signed her divorce papers and if it were Amanda she'd have taken a long vacation but she wanted to show Liv that she was there to listen to her. They might not be close but she had tried to be a shoulder to lean on when the divorce had been hard on her.

"I got a new neighbour"

"Oh"

That wasn't the answer she was expecting. How is a new neighbour worse than divorcing your soulmate? Because any idiot could tell these two were soulmates. Fin had told them all the stories about how they had pined for each other for years until Elliot had divorced his first wife and ran to tell Olivia how he had felt about her. She may not have been there to see them this time around but she knew this was what Fin had told them about, two idiots in love who were fighting it.

"Its Elliot"

"What?"

"Elliot. That arrogant… father of my children. Well he thought a perfect way to celebrate our divorce would be to move in next door to me"

Olivia throws her bag down on her desk, places her coffee down the other side and starts aggressively unpacking. Amanda isn't sure what to say, she couldn't understand why Elliot would think this was a smart move even if she could see the logistics of it from a childcare perspective. Not knowing what to say she takes a seat and waits for liv to continue.

"What is he playing at?"

Liv takes a seat finally and leaning her elbows on her desk she drops her head into her hands.

"I don't know" Amanda answers truthfully. "Maybe you should speak to him?"

Olivia laughs, if they could do that then they wouldn't be divorced. She'd have told him she didn't mean what she had said, told him that she didn't want a divorce, compromised on the retirement. Instead she'd let row after row get out of hand.

"That's not us"

"How about dating again? Showing him that it doesn't bother you him being there and that you're getting on with your life?"

The last thing she wanted to do right now was date but maybe Amanda was right, if he didn't think he could get a reaction out of her he might stop trying and hopefully move out somewhere the other side of town where she'd not have to bump into him unless it was for drop off.

"Maybe you're right" she lets her arms drop onto the table in defeat and the first thing her eyes notice is the family photo that she still has on her desk. She had wanted to take it down many times but it reminded her of a happier time and she didn't have any others with her and the kids that looked half as nice so it had stayed there taunting her in moments like this.

"I know someone who would be eager for a date with you if you're interested?"

Olivia groans when she sees Amanda playfully raise her eyebrows eager to set her boss up. She knew exactly who she was about to say and while he wasn't bad looking he was dull.

"Fine! Just, not quite yet ok"

"Eeek" Amanda knew this is what Olivia needed. Either she could move on and forget about Elliot or she could see what the rest of them saw and go back to where she should be. "Just let me know when you're ready"

A few moments later when Amanda closes the door behind her Olivia's eyes drift back to the family photo in front of her and she thinks back to the last time she had gone on a first date. Was it really a first date when you had worked with someone for nearly ten years? She finds herself thinking back and smiling.

May 2007

The trial for Darius had just ended after a long few weeks of emotional battles for him and the team with their pasts being dragged up. Even though they hadn't got the result they wanted, the letter he was holding in his hand was hopefully, about to bring him more joy than any court result could.

He was on his way over to Olivia's apartment and hoped she'd be there after a bad day and not at a bar somewhere but the way he was feeling he'd go out and look for her because he couldn't wait another second to tell her that he was officially divorce and free. He was a single man hopelessly in love with his partner.

He takes the stairs up to her apartment two at a time and bangs on her door repeatedly until a worried Olivia opens the door and stands in front of him.

"El? What's wrong?"

He freezes for a moment. He doesn't know if he should lean in and kiss her, give her the letter or just tell her he loves her. His heart is beating out of his chest with adrenaline and while he knows he won't give up the fight for her he knows he has to tread carefully.

"Go out with me Liv. on a date"

"What?"

Olivia feels her heart fall to her stomach and she suddenly feels sick. Was this really happening? Was he really here breaking down the fourth wall of the relationship?

"I've been waiting for this and now I have it" he hands the decree absolute over to Olivia and she stares at the paper as he carries on talking. "I don't want to lie to myself anymore. Im in love with you Olivia and i'm pretty sure you feel the same and I want to take you out, I want to take you on a date and I want to be true to myself"

Olivia's eyes stung from the tears forming in them as she looked back up to Elliot who was bearing all to her for the first time in their relationship.

For so many years she'd tried to keep him with his wife, she'd saved his marriage more times than she could count but what was stopping her now?

"Yes. I mean ok. Yes"

The grin that crosses Elliots face was enormous and it feels contagious as she finds herself smiling back at him.

"Saturday?"

He could offer to take her out now. It was only early but that wasn't a real first date. A real date needed to be an occasion for her to dress up, he had seen her dress up for plenty of other dates and the thought of her dressing up like that for him had made him weak at the knees.

"Saturday's good" she confirms and they both smile at each other for a long moment.

"I better go before.." he starts to say and she raises an eyebrow at him as he lets his sentence trail off.

She hands the letter back to him and leans against the doorframe as he gives one last smile as he walks off.

"Im a third date kinda gal Elliot"

"I'm a patient man"

They grin at each other one last time before he turns the corner and she laughs to herself. She doubts she'll even make it through the main course.

The next few days at work had been harder than usual. They both knew what was coming and every time they had gotten too close it felt more electric than normal. It was a three day long foreplay and by the time Elliot had arrived at her door Saturday night to pick her up he had to close his eyes and count to ten.

"Liv" he takes a breath and opens his eyes to see her standing in her doorway wearing a tight black dress that you could unzip from her cleavage down to her stomach. "I'll meet you downstairs"

She smirks and looks pointedly at the flowers he was holding in his hand. He'd completely forgotten about them after seeing her in that dress.

"Oh yeah. They're for you. I know they're not your favourite but im a red roses on a date kind of man… i think" he hadn't exactly gone on many dates so he wasn't sure what kind he was but she smiles and takes them and a slight blush covers her cheeks.

"They're lovely. Thank you"

"No problem"

"I'll be down in five"

Their time at the restaurant didn't go any smoother. Olivia's shoes had been kicked off and she was trailing her foot up his thigh to feel him already hard for her. He held her gaze well, not faltering from the conversation as he became more aroused every second and when she bit her lip he wanted to moan out loud.

They'd been so busy eye fucking each other over the table they hadn't noticed the waiter approach and neither of them had even picked up a menu yet.

"Can I take your order yet Sir, Madam?"

"Can we get another few minutes please?" Elliot said to the man, picking up the menu from under his hand and opening it.

"Certainly sir"

When the waiter walks off Elliot closes the menu and looks back over at Liv who was still grinning wickedly at him.

"The truth is Olivia I know everything about you. What you like, what you hate. Your favourite colour and your favourite movie. I'm not going to find anything more out about you at this meal and you wont about me so I say we skip right to the desert part. What do you say?"

"Someones getting cocky Stabler" she comments leaning forward and taking a sip of her wine.

"I told you. This is a new me, one that will always be totally honest with you"

"Do you really mean that?" her eyes narrow as she watches him closely.

"I do"

Olivia nods and finishes the rest of her glass and picks up her clutch bag from the table.

"Let's not waste anymore time then"

It had taken everything for them not to fuck up against the wall in her entrance way but they both knew their first time should be something special. He had got to feel her though, his two fingers had worked their way inside her and he had heard her moan for the very first time and it was glorious.

By the time they'd made it through her small hallways to her bedroom they were both naked and panting and clawing at every inch of each other. Her nails were leaving dents in his skin and he was biting and sucking at every inch of her he could reach.

They fall back together on the bed and he enters her as she holds his whole body close. She'd never felt an intimacy like that before and it makes her almost teary.

"I love you" she whispers as their bodies slide together.

"I love you too" he tells her and they say those words over and over that night.

Often one of them pulls back when they get too close to the edge, wanting to make their first time last forever. Until eventually they both feel it together and she nods as he moves on top of her. Her orgasm has her screaming his name and the sound of those words leaving her mouth makes him empty himself inside her.

They lay together afterwards and she closes her eyes knowing that if it doesn't last with Elliot she'll never date again.

Olivia puts down the photos she'd been holding and let's out a sigh. The feeling of their first time had never gone, every time even their last time had still felt as intense. She had told herself all of those years ago that if she and Elliot didn't make it she'd never love again and she knows that's true. Maybe she could go on the odd date but she'd never feel what she'd felt for Elliot and she was ok with that, it wasn't news to her.

She wonders if she'll be lonely but the sick joke is he is only next door and maybe they could grow old together anyway, just not in the way she had intended.